Introduction: The International Political Economy of Work

Abstract

Where is the study of work in the discipline of International Political Economy (IPE)? If the discipline aims to break away from International Relations (IR) (Watson 2005: 14) by establishing its own categories of analysis that differ from the questions that originally drive the discipline of IR, that is, security and war; then we have to establish exactly which questions IR is not addressing and, furthermore, the issues IPE must address to become a defensibly contrasted, albeit complementary, entity to IR.

Knowledge can make the difference between sickness and health, between poverty and wealth. Governments that adopt policies to make the most of knowledge will have major advantage in improving the lives of their citizens.

—Carl Dahlman ¹